Siivton 4 Sides Expandable Pet Carrier, Airline Approved Soft-Sided Dog Cat Carrier Bag with Fleece Pad for Cats, Puppy and Small Animals (4 Extension Gray_Blue, L:18.0" L x 11.0" W x 11.0" H)

I came back today to buy a 2nd carrier. I have two 5 month old Maine Coon kittens. I just took them to the vet today, only to realize they have outgrown the ability to share the carrier. I squeezed them in there today, but then ordered a 2nd as soon as I got back home. This carrier is probably perfect for 2 normal sized cats, or 1 larger breed cat. I'll come back later & post a picture of them in the carrier, until then enjoy these two pictures. :)

I bought this carrier because my cat is fractious (horrible at the vet). The fact that every side is accessible has been a lifesaver for everyone because my cat has to be under anaesthesia every single time she goes into the office for a check up, due to her stubbornness of pushing through every other medication. The doctor has personally told me that this carrier was excellent for her and has now advised her other patients to get one for their cats.I bought this in 2020 and it's still held up well for occasional vet visits.

This is a versatile carrier that our 9 month old small breed dog graduated into recently. She loved her first carrier but was starting to outgrow it. This one gives her a little more room zipped up and plenty of room to stretch out when unzipped. The zippers were a bit tricky at first, needing to be sure the inner zippers are tucked in properly before zipping the outer zippers. She chewed a bit on her first carrier but never damaged it. The first time she used this new carrier she chewed a hole in the netting. There’s more netting exposed to be chewed on and easy access to it where the reinforcements are exposed when unzipped. The quality seems ok but the carrier might be better for a dog that has outgrown its chewing stage. Overall it’s a good carrier.

I purchased this in June of 2021 and waited until now, February of 2022, to write this review (I wanted to really test it out and see how it held up) and I’m pleased to say I absolutely love this carrier! Keep in mind the attached photos are current so pardon any soil/hair you may see but I wanted to show how it has held up after 8 months.SPACE:I purchased the x-large in case I needed to put both cats in one bag in the event of an emergency then once in a safer place I could open the sides to let them spread out. For regular use it provides my 10 lb cat with a ton of space.SHAPE:Other carriers I’ve had have all ultimately succumbed to collapse and/or the metal rods giving it shape have bent or the tabs holding them in place have ripped. This carrier has maintained its shape and has proven very durable.DURABILITY:Another plus for me is the durability of the mesh used. Said 10 lb cat is not a fan of carriers, or anything that restricts her movement, and has destroyed many a mesh inset. She had a couple of episodes in this carrier and the mesh came out of it no worse for the wear. While she was able to force her claws in the tiny space she was not able to rip through it like she did the others. The zippers are strong and easy to work.FEATURES:I love the ability to open all 4 sides. It allows more options to open the sides when setting the bag down on different sized surfaces. It comes with the standard top and front side access that most carriers have but it goes a step further in allowing access via all the mesh expansions as well. In total you have the 2 animals access points when closed and 5 when expanded! I like this for security reasons if ever there’s an emergency and you need to get your pet out fast. There’s a good sized, secure pocket on one long side to hook over the pull handle of rolling luggage which I also use to loop a seatbelt through in the car. On the same side are 2 tabs for use with straps in a car to attach to a seat or to hang items from like a leash, poop bags (for dog owners), or additional storage/supplies bag(s).The downsides:There’s only a couple of changes I would make to this bag. They’re more of just a nitpick on my part and things I hope the company will consider if they every revamp the bag…1. There are little velcro tabs on the inside (1 on each length) to help keep the folded mesh contained. They are not very strong and won’t stay hooked. Luckily the mesh is pretty thick and, in combination with the supports, stays in place but it’s still a bit annoying because it can encroach on the available space. I plan on adding my own extra strong, and longer, velcro pieces to each end of the long sides at the very least.2. Storage space. There is 1 pocked on the narrow back side but it’s very thin and you really can’t put much more in there than a couple of receipts. I have small hands but even I have to squeeze my hand in there and the zipper teeth scrape it. I’d like to see a more spacious pocket when I can store the cats collars and tags when they are home as well as a baggy of food, the tube of medication one of them is on, a small comfort toy (one has anxiety), and emergency information on my girls and how to reach myself or vet for when we are traveling. Right now I have a small makeup bag attached to hold this stuff. It works but it gets in the way and really kind of ruins the aesthetic since it doesn’t match and swings around.

The media could not be loaded. We bought this for a recent trip and will be flying with South West airlines. We got the 18” because it’s the size most airlines accept and we didn’t want any of them to turn us away due to having a larger size carrier on top of having a larger dog. Our pup is a 16 LB miniature poodle with a long body and limbs and he fits comfortably in this travel carrier when the longer sides are extended, when not extended he is a little tight. You have to be careful when opening the sides so that the zipper doesn’t catch the inner mesh.We compared our old travel carrier with this one. Here are some of the differences we noticed:- this one has a smaller top making it difficult to put our pup to get in trough the top. He can still lay down when sitting in it incentivized with a treat but he goes in through the side when he can. This is not a problem for us, as long as he can get inside comfortably in any way we are happy.- this one has a smaller pocket but this is also not a problem for us.- this one has one less side without mesh for more air circulation and for him to look out of but our boy will be okay because when we roll him through the airport in it he sits. The only times he’d be fully zipped up is on the plane where he sleeps for the whole flight so we are not worried. Additionally we’ll be taking a small fan for him to stay fresh and have good air circulation on the plane - he is a big and fluffy boy stuck in a warm carrier under a seat so the ac on the plane might not reach him probably.- the bottom is less sturdy than our last one. This is not a problem for us because we won’t be carrying him - we have a rolling base we also bought from Amazon that we roll him in while walking through the airport and while waiting at the gate during long layovers the carrier will be extended on the floor.- when fully zipped he has just as much room on inside as he had with our older and smaller one due to the walls sometimes coming in a bit but they are soft so he can lay against them and flatten them out easily.Overall, it’s perfect for us and what we need it for. While waiting at our gate we can have his new carrier fully extended and when on our flight he can have more room if there’s enough space under the seat to extend one side.I will return with updates of anything goes wrong with the carrier or if the airline gives us any problems due to the carrier and dog we have. I hope this review helps!